Balto Tales of the Great War
by CT-117
Summary: Set in Balto Cursed Soldier, before Kyle Shames came to Nome, Kodi and his sled team were out in Alaska on their sledding trip, they came to a town named Eagle close to the American claimed Alaskan and Canadian borders to stop by and have a break from running while their Musher spends time with his family they meet an old dog and friends that fought in a war 10 years ago. (KxD)
1. Chapter 1

Balto: Tales of the Great War

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. _"_

\- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Chapter 1.

Alaska, otherwise known as the last American frontier, was known for many things such, as fishing, beautiful nature, and the dogs that were used for sledding. Back when the US had purchase' it from Russia in the late 19th century into the early 20th century, before Airplanes were used to deliver mail today, sled-dogs were used to get and send mail to the town settlements across Alaska.

One sled dog team was out in the wilderness running faster with their might. Kodi, the sled dog team's lead dog, was known to be the son of Nome's hero Balto, he has his father's wisdom and spirit, even if he was sometimes a bit arrogant being the lead dog. Dusty, who had become the swing dog, was running right next to him since she can observe the land's terrain and was smart to know about the towns she had travel to and would always give advice to Kodi but she also had some secret feelings for him as well. Ralph, the Alaskan Malamute, was sometimes the dog that complains a lot. He can be lazy, even tho the alaskan malamute was known to be the breed of dog that can endure any hard work given and had the strength of pulling heavy stuff behind them. He still can be funny. He likes to run with the team, either in training or having fun, helps out with his team in times of need, and is always ready for a race when they were involved in. Kirby is known to be cocky, as he believes that the team is Nome's next champion sled dog team. They all were rookies, with Kodi being the son of Balto that saved the children of Nome in the serum run. They also helped Balto to save a man's life that was a bush pilot that was competing with them by delivering mail by air that would take away their jobs. Luckily the district of Alaska's governor has passed the policy where the dog sled teams would be active during the seasons where it was snowy and cold, while the bush pilots would do their jobs in the seasons where it was hot and clear of snow blizzards before it would be relieved sometime in the 1930s.

One of the dogs who was big and had blueish gray fur said "Uhh , *puff* , man I am getting tired! , *puff* , Are we there yet?" who was almost tired from the exhaustion of running for almost weeks from town to town and stopping for a night's sleep if they were too exhausted. Another one right next to him who had fur that was dark tan made a comment. "Will you stop? , *puff* , complaining for once. Ralph? *puff*" Who was huffing just as the other canine before the third one up in front of both of them whose fur coat was dark red with a creamy white underbelly along up into his face and legs said "We're almost there guys , *puff* , we just need to keep running , *puff* , faster if we can , *puff* , We can finally take a break," who was just as tired as both of the dogs were.

"Dusty , *puff* , how long , *puff* , do we have?" he said right next to another dog who had dark grayish fur as he was huffing in his breath. "About , *puff* , fifteen minutes I think , *puff* ," said the dog who was known as Dusty, she can't take much more either.

With that, Kodi and Dusty, with their keen senses of smell from their wolf gene, can smell a town that's nearby. "Hey , *puff* , smell that?" said Kodi with a "Yeah," reply form Dusty, both of them in front ran faster than the dogs behind them, but not too fast, or all the dogs would slag down and get hit by the sled and a crash that would fling their musher, Asuilaak, up into the air causing disaster and maybe death for them. Both of them knew they can not let that happen. "Hey , *puff* , slow down you two." said Kirby. The musher saw what was going on with the dogs but he ignored it as he believed Kodi and Dusty knew what they were doing.

In the distance, the musher can see the town coming up closer and closer, as they ran faster and faster. The town was known as Eagle, a town that is closer to the border between Canada and the US claimed border. By far, this was the farthest place that the sled dog team had ever gone farther, as it took them 2 weeks to reach it here from Tanana.

"Whoa, whoa, steady dogs, steady." said Asuilaak Simpson, the musher, as the dogs had finally reached here. It sure was far away from Nome. It had only been ten minutes after Kodi and Dusty smelled the scent of the town and had five minutes to spare due to them running faster. Asuilaak gave out dog bowls to each dog and put water in them so the dogs can quench their thirst before Asuilaak took the mail to the post office in the town, "Finally." said Ralph, after Drinking the water in his bowl. He then laid down with a thump from being so exhausted.

"Good , *puff* , work , *puff*, team." said Kodi as he was shorting his sentences to catch some breath and sitting down to relax his muscles. With a reply from Dusty "Yeah, *puff* thanks." she said laying right next to him before Kirby said "Don't , *puff* , mention it." behind them.

After about ten minutes had pass the dogs were laying on the ground resting for a bit, Asuilaak came out from the post office after having a friendly social conversation with the person who was the head of it, as the dogs heard him coming out they all sat looking up at to him giving him attention, "Alright boys and girl," referring to Dusty as the only female dog on the sled team. "Here are some of the news, we are going to be here for about four days since this town is actually my home and I want to spend some time with my family and friends, I haven't seen them for months." said Asuilaak, with hearing the news from him, Kodi made a whine for a complaint to Asuilaak.

"Now Kodi, I know we are very far away from Nome, you might as well feel home sick of not seeing your mom or dad or siblings for two months, but you are not the only one here who has not see his family for a long time."

Kodi knew that his musher and owner was right and that it would not seem fair if Asuilaak had no chance of seeing his family, yet at least Kodi has his sled team such as Kirby, Ralph and Dusty who were also part of his family as well, Kodi reply with a friendly bark as way of saying "Okay." to him.

"Good then, now make yourselves at home." said Asuilaak as he unstrapped the leash that connected the Dogs to the sled free along with the harness on them but left the collars on the dogs so that they would be ready when needed as their musher took the sled to put away in a puplic shed.

"Don't worry Kodi, four days isn't that long." said Dusty.

"Yeah, after all, we are all sled dogs who have traveled to places where no dog has gone before." said Kirby

"You mean places where we have not gone to before where there were already dogs Kirby." She said looking at Kirby as they weren't the only dogs here

"Uh . . . yeah?" replied Kirby.

Kodi looked at his friends as he chuckled at Kirby's comment. "Well guys the only places we have not gone to are places where humans have not and only wolves have." Kodi said as he was referring to the no man's land in Alaska where wolf packs live, thinking of places where Aleu could have gone to, it had been a long time since he had seen Aleu, the last time he heard of her was when Balto had came back home after looking for Aleu where she ran off to after hearing about the incident with the hunter who mistaken her as a predator, she ran off and Balto went after her, along the way they then ran into a wolf pack that desperately needed a leader due to being divide between some issues, Aleu decide she would become alpha of the wolf pack leading them to the ice bridge, when Balto had returned home he and Jenna wanted Kodi and all the other siblings to hear about their wolf heritage, since if Balto and Jenna had kept it from Aleu they would have done the same with Kodi and the others as well.

"Say, Kodi can you tell me about Aleu?" said Dusty with Kodi replying "Huh, you mean my sister well . . . yeah, I remember, she would sometimes howl a lot and it was very annoying, I guess it has something to do with our heritage, but I still had a great time with her since she is my sister and all, I do wonder what she is doing now." said Kodi

"You care about her?" said Dusty

"Yeah I still do, my dad said she she went with a wolf pack they ran into and she felt it was her destiny to lead them, since no human would want to have her as a pet or a companion, hopefully she has found a mate and is having pups with him I think." said Kodi.

Dusty felt sorry for Kodi not seeing his sister for a long time she wanted to make Kodi feel happy again.

'Ho there I go feeling sorry for Kodi again, wait why am I having feelings for Kodi?' Dusty thought of till' Ralph intervene.

"Well stop worrying about your sister, if you are sure she's fine." said Ralph

Which shook both Kodi and Dusty out of thought.

"Yeah, let's go take a look around of this town we haven't been before." said Kirby.

"Huh yeah sure." Kodi said and with that they all take a stroll around Eagle, the town it was named for.

Like all other towns they have been to in Alaska, Eagle town was a settlement with arctech cutler looking as of the late 1800s American settlement but some of the people were different, they heard of two them at a wood carpenter shop speaking a different language or tongue they have not heard before .

"Quel est le prix pour le traîneau?" said the customer with a reply from the carpenter. "Environ 300 francs, soit 25 à dollor american."

"Hey, what were those humans saying?" said Ralph overhearing them with Dusty replied to him "I don't know." she said, as she was just puzzled and confused with the language.

They all have heard of languages humans speak that were Slavic such as Siberian and Russian and all other languages that some Alaskan natives speak such as Inuit due to Asuilaak having a mix heritage and they knew english pretty well.

* * *

As the four dogs were all walking by a street, a dog was lying on a porch, the dog had fur that was a mix of brown and black much more like a chocolate color, it's ears were short and floby with his muzzle having a bit of gray fur on it showing that the dog was old about ten to eleven years old, his body was actually still in good shape for an old dog, he was just snoozing a bit until a scent he smelled of two wolves, he immediately sat straight up, eyes open spotting two of the dogs, one a male, who had a dark red coat with a white underbelly along with his legs and the other a female who had blueish gray fur, both smelled wolf.

"Hey." he said his voice sounded a bit grouchy and suspicious.

Kodi, Dusty and all four of them turn their heads towards the direction where they heard the voice that was speaking to them, the dog looking straight into the eyes of Kodi and Dusty as he'd smell their scent.

"Is one of you part wolf?" said the dog that was staring right at Kodi and Dusty, Kodi knowing that he was part wolf, didn't want to cause any trouble for his team's safety he replied to the dog that was asking the question.

"Uh yes sir, I am part wolf and I don't mean you no harm, I am just minding my own business, my team and I are just taking a stroll of the town we haven't been to."

As the old chocolate dog had his eyes focus on Kodi who had nothing to hide in his eyes and were honest, then at Dusty who hide something in her eyes but looked innocent and then he looked back at the other two dogs that was Kirby and Ralph, as he was looking at all the four dogs, they all were doing no harm as he believed Kodi and Dusty he stopped glaring at them as his serious look faded away and gave a warm friendly welcoming smile.

"Sorry for that, I just happen to have this thing in my breed where if a wolf or any more of them was nearby I would have to start barking to get the human's attention that a wild animal is here." said the chocolate dog.

"What type of breed are you?" said Dusty, feeling relief and asking a question in curiosity.

"I am a Labrador retriever, a chocolate one if you may refer, the names Ethan." replied the dog who was named.

"Well, I am just glad you don't have anything against dogs who are part wolf." said Kodi feeling a bit nervous around Ethan

"As long as they don't cause any harm to the people or dogs alone, say are you and your friends sled dogs?" said Ethan as he had seen their collars, Kodi replied back with a "Yes."

"Hhmm I used to be a messenger dog in the past." he said.

"Wait you mean you used to pull sleds as well?" said Kirby not believing that Labrador dogs pulled sleds.

"No, not what you guys refer to as dog sledding, although it's a long story, it be better if I tell you some where it's warm and i'll bring some of my friends to introduce to you all." said Ethan.

"My name is Kodi, this here is Dusty, and those guys are Ralph and Kirby, were all a sled dog team." said Kodi

"Pleasure to meet you all." replied Ethan

"Hey can you tell us why are there are people who are speaking a language we don't seem to understand?" said Dusty, referring back to those two people they heard speaking a different language.

"I take it you don't know about French do you?" replied Ethan asking a question that they all know that they have never heard of French, they all said yes in union.

"I tell you all what, meet me at the boiler room when the sun is about to set on the horizon." as Ethan said to them, he went out to go find his friends to meet them there at the boiler room.

"What story does he have in mind?" said Ralph as he was somewhat excited to hear about this story, "I don't know but whatever it is, it must be very exciting." said Kodi.

* * *

 **Hello fanfiction, my story here is set in** ** Christian Knight's Balto Cursed Soldier, I have sent messages to him of some ideas and the lists of characters for this story so there will be a connection to my story and his, it will be my first fanfic so I take fair criticism and will improve my writings in the future, I am currently working on the second chapter and I will try to work on it as I can since I will be busy for Summer school, but it won't be for the entire summer vacation, Thanks to Christian Knight and Dante Frost for the reading my first chapter and giving me some advice, respect the veterans and enjoy your memorial day.**

 **Update: I have decided to update Esther to Ethan since that name just sounds to girly for a character who suppose to be a male dog.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Kodi and his sled team spent most of their time in the afternoon strolling around the town, having lunch at the town's butcher shop where the butcher was kind enough to give each of the dogs a handful of scrap meat to them, and then the rest of it running out in the open fields of snow either for exercising or just having fun altogether, As the afternoon went and came the evening when the sun was about to set, when the sun was about to set on the horizon and snow was coming down on the town, it would be getting cold when it's dark.

Kodi was the first one to tell his friends that it is time to head to town "Okay guys, let's head back to town." before Dusty said. "I'll race ya down there guys." as she ran off with a swift. "Hey, wait up!" shouted Kodi as he sprinted forward to head up to Dusty.

"Last one down there is a rotten egg." said Ralph as he and Kirby would follow in pursuit trying to catch up.

As Kodi ran he remembered that Ethan would meet them at the boiler room with some friends of his to meet them and hear them to tell of some qutie unique stories.

Dusty was the first one to beat them but Kodi came close right behind her tail and came in as second place while Ralph and Kirby came in third and fourth place.

"Aw man, we were too slow." complained Ralph.

"Well you said it yourself, last one is a rotten egg, so you're the rotten egg." said Kirby.

"No you are." said Ralph as they started arguing with each other.

"Guys, guys calm down, we were just having fun remember?" said Kodi who was negotiating with them both with Dusty replying.

"Yeah guys we are just having fun since we are taking a break from running the sled for so many miles, it's not like we are in a competition for real."

With that Ralph and Kirby started to pipe down with being reasoned by Kodi and Dusty.

"Alright, but who do you think can run faster, huh Kodi?" said Kirby forming a smirk around his muzzle.

Kodi for a moment couldn't come up with the answer since he always believed that he was the fastest because of his father Balto who was Nome's hero for saving the town's children and that Balto had trained him to run faster since his puppyhood, but Dusty could run just as faster as him as well since she can ran first place and he was just right behind her tail one foot away.

"Uuh . . . me and Dusty I think?" he answered to Kirby's question.

"So you think it's you and Dusty that can run faster than us?" said Kirby with a smirk on his muzzle getting the idea.

"Uh what do you mean?" said Kodi who was confused and turned his head towards Dusty who had a little blush in her ears but was not visible to Kodi and all the dogs present, she was just as confused as Kodi was since he mentioned that both of them together can run faster.

'So he thinks that I can run faster as him?" Dusty thought.

"HAHAHA! I am just kidding with ya, Kodiak." said Kirby laughing right next to Ralph who was giggling a bit with the prank they did.

Kodi and Dusty were looking at each other after what Kirby had said feeling embarrassed but let it go and moved on.

All four of the dogs went to the boiler room just as how Ethan told to them meet him and his friends to hear a story of his past.

"Do you guys know what a messenger dog can do?" said Dusty asking a question.

"I don't know, delivering messages from neighborhood to neighborhood?" said Kirby who could only came up with an answer.

"Yeah as if humans can't do it because they're lazy." said Ralph making a joke of Kirby's answer.

"Guys, what ever Ethan did as a messenger dog is probably important to him, just like how our jobs of being a sled dog is important to us, so let's at least be respectful to him, he may just be a hero who saved a lot of lives like my dad did." Kodi said in defense who wants to show respect to the elder dogs like Ethan and it would be possible if Ethan had done something in the past that could have made him a hero.

As they entered into the building that was the town's boiler room, it looked a lot like the one they had been in Nome, the furnace was on giving a glowing light in the room and warmth that felt better to be in then being outside that was freezing out there, when they were in Ethan wasn't there nor was his friends that he mentioned, so they lay down to rest their paws and legs as they waited, two minutes went by, they heard some mumbling form the walls as there was a debatable conversation going on.

"What do you mean if one or two of them is a wolfdog?" said a voice they haven't heard before, it was old and feminine that had an accent that sounded like an accent that Boris had which was Russian but sounded very different as it was elegant and polite but with a bit concern as she was asking the question about them being wolfdogs.

"The one who has a red coat and the other one with the blueish gray, but there friendly Amity." said another voice who was obvious Ethan answering the other dog's question as they entered in.

The dog sled team saw three dogs come inside of the bollier room, they recognize Ethan the old chocolate labrador as he was leaning his shoulder on the bollier room's door to let the other two dogs to come in, one of them had coat that was black with a white underbelly and legs with her tail being all black with a white tip at the end of her tail, her fur was long and thick but not too long, her face had a black mask that on her right side of her face covering her eye and half of it was all white while her ears were black and floby but were still up, it was obvious she was the one asking the question about who were the wolfdogs in the sled team, the other one to come in had a fur coat that was black and carmel, his back side having black fur while his legs and underbelly were all carmel, the dog had pointing black ears sticking up, his muzzle was black with bit of gray in it showing that the dog was just as old as Ethan.

"Hello there." said the old black and white dog as she greeted the sled dogs.

"Kodi, Dusty, Ralph and Kirby, this here is my mate, Amity." said Ethan as he introduced the black and white dog.

"And this here is Adolph." said Ethan turning his head towards the black and carmel dog.

"Guten Abend." said Adolph as his voice sounded a bit low with a an accent that was different from Amity.

"Guten what now?" said Ralph as he and the others on the sled team didn't understand what the dog was saying.

"He means good evening." said Ethan explaining.

"I assume that these Alaskan dogs have not heard of French or German." said Amity who was smiling at them.

"They must have come from an American settlement, but they sure don't know what's out there." said Ethan chuckling.

"Hey, we are sled dogs, we have been to places where you haven't." said Kirby as he stood up, trying to show their reputation of being explorers with pride.

"You're quite right, that's why I referred to you all as Alaskans, but have all four of you been to Europe?" said Amity mentioning a place called Europe as the three dogs who have just entered in lay down with the sled team relaxing themselves with the just right temperature to be warm in a room where it was so cold outside.

"Europe, what's that?" said Kodi looking dazed as they were all curious of what this place was.

"It is a continent that is far away east from here." said Ethan answering his question which lead to more questions to answered which Dusty had in mind "Like how far is Europe from here?" she said.

"It would be a long journey for you sled dogs, if all you were to continue to head straight through Canada and came to the United States on the east coast say like New York, you would then need a ship or flew in a cargo plane to pass the Atlantic ocean and drop off at Britain and then get on another ship or plane again to pass the English channel all the way into France, there you would be in Europe, there's also another way to get there, head west and come into Siberia and Russia or as they call it now the Soviet Union, you come to Moscow and keep heading west till your in Germany." said Ethan.

With Ethan explaining the details of Europe, it would seem like a long journey to travel down there by dog sledding and it might even take them a year either way on sledding, and with that they had mention some countries they have not heard of.

"So wait, what's Britain, France and Germany?" said Kodi with another question.

"Well those countries that are part of Europe, in fact these two dogs here with me had come from there." said Ethan

"I come from Britain and Adolph here is from Germany." said Amity with a "Ja." reply from Adolph.

"So wait does he speak English?" said Kirby with an answer from Adolph "Yes I can." he said in a bit of an irritated tone.

"So then, how did you two came here?" asked Dusty.

"It's a very long story and how long will you dogs be here?" said Amity wondering how long they will be here in.

"About four days, so we only have three days left being here while our musher is spending some quality time with his family here." said Kodi

"Sounds like the perfect timing." said Ethan as he was about to tell his own story before Ralph interrupted. "Wait, what does all of this have to do with you being a messenger dog?"

Ethan being a little bit irritated by Ralph but decided to tell them of the event that have them involved.

"Well ten years ago there was a great war going on in Europe." he said with another reply from Kodi saying "A war? What kind was it?" with Ethan answering his question. "The reason why humans call it the Great War was that, it is was a world war and had battles fought between large standing armies of young and adult male human beings who were soldiers and fighting for their countries, machinery technology also played a role in it as well such as the trains that would carry the soldiers to their destination, industrial factories making the weapons such as guns, ammunition, human vehicles such as cars, trucks, tanks, big battleships and planes that human beings had flew in them if any of you had seen an airplane before and don't forget to mention weapons that were so deadly such as artillery and chemical gas." he said with a bit of disgust in his tone at mentioning that deadly weapon.

The four sled dogs were intrigued as Ethan explained and yet why would some human soldiers would need some dogs to help them in the first place.

"Then why would the Humans need dogs for war?" said Dusty with another question.

"They have been using dogs in wars for a very long time, and they would use them just as the same way as you dogs are used to pulling sleds." said Ethan who answered the question to Dusty's question.

"Huh?" the four dogs in the sled said before Kodi was saying "So you mean dogs like us can be of service in the military?"

"Well it all depends on what type of breed you are, they wouldn't use a poodle or very small dog like, uhh . . . what do they call them Amity?" he said as Ethan was figuring out what small breed he could describe.

"Welsh Corgis Ethan." she said chuckling for a brief moment.

"Oh yeah, they are pretty small for a dog but they can still run faster, anyways you all know of my breed but let's at least talk about what these two dogs here with me are , Amity is a sheepdog or now what they named it for, a Border Collie, and Adolph here as you all know he's from Germany, his breed is called the German Shepherd." said Ethan explaining what breed of dogs they are before Dusty ask another question "So what about the breeds that are Siberian Husky or Alaskan Malamute?" before Ethan replied with "For your kind, you would most likely be used for pulling supplies, or machine guns for soldiers who are trained to go into cold climates for long periods of time such as during the winter or parts of the world where it's winter every year, like the antarctic for example, though I don't think any powerful country on earth here would to set up a colony or collect resources from it since it's too cold down there, but you get the point, every type of dog has a role in the military."

"Was it adventurous when you were a messenger dog?" said the curious red and white young wolf-husky.

"Well . . . Yes it was, but war is not like some game you sled dogs play, like racing in a competition to beat another sled dog team, really a lot of people including dogs die in wars." said the old chocolate Lab after answering the question to Kodiak when Dusty then ask another question, "Then why do humans keep fighting in them?" she said looking a little confused and a bit disturbed that some of their own kind die in human caused wars.

"Good question young miss, that I can't clearly answer because I am not sure why, they do it because of some intentions such as spreading some ideologies like religion, enlightenment, social and economic ideas,Social Darwinism, or they do it to defend their homeland, all of them sound good and humane or as the humans call it humanitarian, although they will intend to do for resources, I'll leave it up to you to decide." said Ethan explaining why humans intend to fight in wars if it were just or unjust before Kirby ask him another question. "Then why did all of you guys decide to be involved in this war?" Ethan answered his question with respect but in a bit of stern look on his face. "I'll tell you how."

* * *

June, 1915 Canada, somewhere in Ontario

It was a beautiful day in the green fields as the birds were chirping, the sky blue as ever with the sun's rays of light bright over the lands and the mountains. Chocolate pups were running playing with each other as they roam around the field, a man in the distance who was in his farming clothing and a cap on his head that covered most his hair that was faded in gray showing the man was old in his mid 60s along with two Labrador dogs were right next to him.

" _Wheeeet, whoooo,_ Come here pups." said the old man who was whistling at the pups to come back, the pups acknowledge his command as the two dogs right next to him was their parents.

The runt in the litter of pups came up faster to his parents to lick their faces in excitement, happiness and love.

"Oh Ethan stop it." giggled the brown female Labrador in glee as all the other pups came in to do the same with their mother.

"Come along children." said the the dark chocolate male Labrador as they followed the old man into the house with the shed right next to it.

As they were all following the old farmer into the entrance of the house, in the distance they heard noise that sounded like it came from a local enige, as the 4 month old Ethan turned his head over his shoulder in wonder to see it was a car driving up on the road that lead to the farm.

"Ethan come inside." his Father the dark chocolate Lab demanded in a stern but calm tone, not wanting to get his father upset, he went inside as the door was closed leaving the the old farmer outside to speak with the people inside the automobile.

As they were all inside of the house there was a middle aged woman in the kitchen as she was preparing for dinner, in the dining area were three children sitting at the table where they would eat their meals, a boy and two girls were sitting there, two were working on their homework assignments before school was out while the youngest was drawing and coloring papers with Crayons instead of pencils, the middle aged woman looked to be in her late 50s and going on to her 60s while one of the children, the boy who was the oldest in the bunch was 12 years old while the other girl who was working on her own home homework was 10 years, while the youngest daughter is 5 years old, on the wall that lead the dining area to the living room where a row of pictures that featured the family and Ethan's parents, in the family photo that was taken pack in 1910 showed the farmer and his wife along with their newborn daughter in her arms while there were three boys and one girl, the boy and the girl were sitting in front of where the parents were while the two boys were standing behind the parents, the two looked like they were the two eldest brothers in the family, they were all smiling at the camera except for the newborn baby as she looked confused as it was her first picture taken as a baby, the other pictures had one of them that featured the farmer and his two eldest sons wielding shotguns such as a double barreled shotgun and two browning auto-5 shotguns along with Ethan's parents sitting right next to them along with rows of deceased ducks.

Meanwhile outside the old farmer welcomed the guests who had drove down here, the guests were two men in uniform, their uniforms had a dark tan fabric color along with bronze buttons, two of them had the rank of army officers, one had a rank of major while the other one had a lieutenant rank, the major had a stern look on his face as he was older in his 40s while the lieutenant had a calm look on his face and was younger in his 20s, the major's hair that was covered by his army cap had brown hair along with a mustache while the lieutenant had black hair, both of had a flag on their shoulders that was red with the union jack on the top left side corner of the flag with a shield that resembles their English and French heritages.

"Bonne après-midi Mr. Wilson." said the Major with a bit of a French accent even tho he was a Canadian.

"Major Tremblay and Lieutenant Lee, what brings you two gentlemen here? Has something happen to my . . . eldest sons?" said Wilson the farmer, he greeted with them until he ask them a specific question on the reason why they were here if they were to report about something that might have happened to his two eldest sons, he had a concerned look on his face when he had mention the last part of his sentence before the major replied back to him "No, we have heard they are doing just fine in the trenches on the western front that is, they have only had a stalemate against the Huns since November." he said answering Mr. Wilson's question of the status of his sons that would satisfy him but they don't know what is going on in the battlefields against the central powers in Europe at this moment, the next day they could hear a report of some casualties going on that had happened on the day before.

"Oh, thank heavens, sure hope my boys are fighting back against those Germans, It's going to take a lot of bullets to take down my sons." Farmer Wilson said with confidence that his sons are doing alright over there.

"Yes indeed, however that's not the reason why we came here for, we have heard that your dogs had just had litter of pups four months ago, is that correct?" said Major Tremblay now asking a question to the framer.

"Yes, they were just out here with me a moment ago, my wife is just making supper, would you gentlemen like to come in for some tea?" said Wilson as he turned towards the entrance of his home as the two men in uniform followed.

As they entered, the youngest child was playing with the pups as she was hugging, and petting them as the pups were licking her face, she giggled as their tongues tickled her face.

"There they are." said Wilson as he came in the house with the two uniformed men befor he said to his daughter "Lucy can you please take the pups into the other room with their parents and feed them?" said Wilson as he told his youngest daughter, she did as she was told with a "Yes papa." The pups followed her into the other room.

As dinner was being prepared Lucy and her brother and sister, Michael and Rachel fed the dogs in the other room, as the family was having dinner except for the Major Tremblay and the Lieutenant Lee as they already had their meals at their base, instead they had tea, Mr. Wilson was having a conversation with the men in uniform.

"So can you tell me what's been going on on the western front? You said there was a stalemate with the Germans." said Wilson in which the Major replied back to his question after taking a sip from his tea, "Yes, but I can't tell you that much information but I can tell you this, the Germans have been using this new weapon, Chlorine, it is a chemical weapon they have been using it since April of this year at the second battle of Ypres, what it does, it causes lung irritation making it harder for the soldier to breath and it is even Corrosive which can cause damage to the eyes, nose and throat, the worst part of it is that it is silent and deadly." said the Major as he was describing the chemical weapon and making the Germans look like they were the monstrous brutes they were, yet they weren't the only ones using weapons of mass destruction during the period of the war, matter of fact they came up with the ideas of protective equipment to combat it such as gas masks.

"Golly, didn't we agree to the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907." said Wilson as he was disgusted by the details of this weapon and imagining a soldier that was struggling with breathing as he coughing out the gas out his lungs and getting fresh air into his in this type of situation. "This is a world war we are discussing about." said Major Tremblay.

As they were continuing their conversation of the great war going on in Europe, Ethan heard what was going on and was curious of this Great War in Europe he asked his mother, "Mom, what war are they talking about?" he looked up at his mother as she was finished with her meal. "I don't know Ethan, but I do believe it has something to do with Wilson's sons, Adam and John." she said as she remembered the last time she had seen them back in October when they enlisted into the Canadian army to fight in this war.

"So, What brings you two here?" said Elizabeth, Wilson's wife asking the men in uniform a question. "Ah yes, we heard two of your dogs just had a litter of pups four months ago, is that correct?" said Tremblay with Wilson replying "Yes we do, is there something you need with them?" The major turned his head towards him to answer his question. "Yes, we are recruiting dogs for military service, an experiment really, you see here we need dogs that can become of use in the war effort like what France is doing." He said with pride on his face. "Alright, but I still need Baron and Cali for herding, hunting and protecting our stocks from wild animals." said Mr. Wilson stating that his two oldest dogs are not up for military service and are still in need for important reasons.

When Wilson was done eating his meal for the day he lead the two men in uniform in the other room where the dogs were, as they came in the pups came up to them wanting to play with them when really the men in uniform we're here to examine them, Baron and Cali were protective of their pups but did not resent against the soldiers as they are the master's guests.

"Well these puppies sure are very excited to see us." said Lieutenant Lee as he was kneeling down to reach them and grab one of them who licked his face.

"These pups may be too friendly around strangers when they're' young, but I am sure they will become protective around their owners and their property when they get older and more mature." said Wilson as he turn his view from the pups to the Major as he said back "Well these pups better be prepared when they are in need of service either their roles be it a guard-dog, patrol dog or be a messenger dog on the battlefield." as he said that Ethan was running around Lieutenant Lee in excitement as he was going faster.

"Hey Major, look at this little rascal here." said Lee as he grabbed Ethan before Wilson said "That's Ethan, he is some what a bit of a runt in the litter we have." he said as the Major then replied back to him "Maybe he could become a messenger dog then." said Tremblay before Mr. Wilson interrupted him "B-but are you sure? He is a bit of a ru-" he said before being interrupted by the major believing that Ethan wouldn't be assumed to fit the role of a messenger dog "By the look of it, this rascal likes to run faster." he said as he grabbed out a red collar that had a little brass leaf on it as a dog tag and can fit the neck of a puppy as well as an adult dog, he came to Lieutenant Lee and ordered him to put it around puppy Ethan's neck. "Be sure to not put him with the pups being adopted, okay?" said Major Tremblay stating to Mr. Wilson "Umm . . . okay then." he said at first with an objection but gave in and accepted it. "We will be back for him in October once he has matured enough to be trained and then set out to the battlefields." said the major as he and his assistant lieutenant Lee were exiting the farmer's home.

As the rest of the family were outside saying their goodbyes to the military personnel with Mr. Wilson shouting out to them "I will be sure to mature the runt when I am out hunting then." before the Major replied back to him "Very well then, Au Revoir." as he wave back to them. Ethan look outside as the family wave goodbye to the uniformed men and looked down to see he was wearing a red collar with brass seal that resembled a leaf and then wondered what was going to happen to him?

* * *

 **Sorry if this took so long, I was being lazy playing some Fallout 4, working on a Lego MOC project for Brickcon, and reading some other fanfic stories, tomorrow I am going to have an operation on my wisdom teeth but I will still be able to continue writing the story and I do have some ideas of stories that I want write some time in the future on a Star Wars Halo Crossover and maybe a Zootopia story if I have an idea, and thanks again to Dante Frost and Christian Knight for being beta readers**

 **Update I have decide to change my characters name Ether to Ethan.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Mama, where am I going?" said Ethan who was asking a question to his mother in the middle of the afternoon where they were going with farmer Wilson and his father Baron, standing on the side of the road that lead them to their home, as leafs that were once bright green in the season of spring and summer were now orange and brown as they were slowly falling off from the trees and scattering across the ground.

 **October 4, 1915 Canada, Ontario**

Today was the day Ethan would be adopted into the service of the military of the British empire and her commonwealth nations, during the summer of 1915, the rest of the pups in the litter of Baron and Cali were all adopted a few days after the meeting with the Major Tremblay and Lieutenant Lee except for Ethan as he was left with the family, during the season he went out hunting with his parents along with farmer Wilson and his son Michael, as well did some chores such as herding sheep and protecting stock from wild animals as well with running in the fields, in that time span Ethan's body started to grow as he was maturing through the months, his body was medium size compared to an adult labrador dog like his mother and father.

"You are going to be adopted into the military Ethan, but I am sure you will be fine." said Cali as she was a bit concerned with him being used for the war effort but fret not too much as she knew he would be treated well by his handlers.

"The Military? Is that what those men in uniform were?" said Ethan as he still had that red collar with that brass leaf tag around his neck as he remembered the day when two men in uniform came into his owner's property to see if one of the pups in the litter would be of good use in service.

"Yes, and I am sure you will do fine Ethan, I would listen to your mother." said Baron agreeing with Cali.

"Fine? What do you mean?" said Ethan turning his head towards his father as he was questioning his parents of why he was being adopted into the military instead of a family where he would protect stocks and hunting animals for their suppers.

"Son, there has been a war going on for a year, I believe . . . haven't you heard from our master about his two eldest sons?" said Baron as he answered his son now asking questions to his son as he said back "Well yeah but . . . I don't know them that much other than mom mentioning they were enlisted for something and the master sometimes read those letters privately or I didn't pay attention when focusing on other stuff."

"You weren't born yet when they were here. Last year during the summer we heard news that war had broken out between the Central powers and the Allied nations, the country we live in is part of the commonwealth of the British Empire, Wilson's sons . . . who were old enough to enlist for the military, and they are probably now fighting in a place called Europe." said Cali explaining what she knows of what's going on in the world.

"Europe? . . . where is it and how did this war happen in the first place?" said Ethan as he was asking questions again as he was a bit confused as Cali then answered his questions.

"We don't know that much of Europe, we . . . have only heard of it being far away across the ocean of what the humans call it, the Atlantic, and the war was somehow started when a foreign man assassinated some royal figure of a foreign country that was a member of the central powers and the assassin was part of a claimed terrorist group that worked with the country's government that was being occupied of the royal figure's country, it's very complicated to understand other than the fact being a war between groups of nations that hate each other." She explained with discontent with the way things are going on in the world, she had gotten this bit of information from the newspapers mr. Wilson reads form, as her son asking another question.

"Then when will it end then?" said Ethan wondering if the war would somehow end tomorrow so he wouldn't have to get involved in it, as his father would answer his question. "We don't know yet son, last year we heard from our master Wilson and his wife reading letters from the front lines where their two eldest sons would be staying, saying that they would be back before christmas when the war was over or when they thought because they haven't come back to visit, practically it would be soon be a year we haven't seen them and the longer this war takes, the much more the casualties stack up." said Baron explaining that wars can last longer in years and don't just end overnight, and when Baron mentioned casualties, Ethan was figuring out what he meant.

"Casualties? Do you mean th-" said Ethan as he was then interrupted by the sound of an engine of a automobile car in the distance, the vehicle pulled over by the road on the side where farmer Wilson and his dogs were standing, two men in uniform came out of the automobile, the same men that came and chose Ethan for service back in the month of June.

"Hello their Major Tremblay." said Framer Wilson greeting the men in uniform again after five months not hearing from them.

"Bonjour encore Mr. Wilson, how has the dog been doing these few months?" said Major Tremblay replying back to Framer Wilson's greetings.

"Oh please, call me Oliver, but anyways Ethan here has been doing well as you can tell, he has grown quite bigger I'll say." said Oliver Wilson as he pointed towards Ethan as the young chocolate lab still had that red collar with the brass leaf as the dog tag, Major Tremblay was quite amazed to see the pup has now grown up to be almost adult size dog as he examine him closely walking up to him.

"Hmmm, yes . . . almost a big dog in a few more months from now which is good, however . . . I want to see if he can obey some commands, you wouldn't mind showing me yes?" said Major Tremblay as he stood up to look as Oliver in the eyes, Oliver replied back to his question, "Yes of course I will show you, let's do it on an open field where we can demonstrate." he said as the three men and the three dogs moved to the open field where there was grass everywhere as well as a stream of a river, Oliver Wilson had some two items with him, a rolled up newspaper of the Globe which had news guidelines of the war going on in Europe along with other stuff in Canada and the other a bone that dogs chew on.

"I'll throw the newspaper first," said Oliver Wilson as he grabbed out the newspaper and gave attention to Ethan. "Here Ethan . . . Fetch!" Oliver then threw the newspaper about 10 feet or 3 meters away from him, following Oliver Wilson's command Ethan ran faster to get the newspaper and bring it back to him, his legs sprang forth to the newspaper, picked it up with his maw and back to where Oliver was, as Oliver threw the newspaper, Major Tremblay checked the time calculating on how long it would take for the Lab dog to retrieve the item and bring it back to his master who was in command of him.

"That was 13 seconds," said the Major. as Ethan returned with the newspaper in his maw to Oliver. "Very good timing, have you trained him very well?" said the Major again asking a question to Oliver, "Well, yes we have been, watch him go for the dog bone as I throw it over that river." said Oliver as he threw the other item on the other side of the river where there was dry land, Ethan like before sprint forward to retrieve the bone, he then jumped into the river stream with a splash, luckily the river stream wasn't going wild and he dog paddled to get to dry land to retrieve the bone and paddled back to the other side where everybody was there.

"About 20 seconds, not bad for a retriever I'll say." said Major. Tremblay giving credit to Oliver for his training with Ethan, "Thanks, we have been doing this routine for over the summer and Ethan has become a very obedient dog." said Oliver Wilson as he petted Ethan on the head and rubbed his ears with his fingers that felt good for Ethan as his tail was wagging like crazy.

"Can you throw the newspaper again like you did, I want to time it again." said Major. Tremblay asking a request to Oliver Wilson, as Wilson replied back with a "Sure thing." as he threw the newspaper again towards the open field but this time the Major. grabbed something out of his concealed strap by his side, in his right hand was a dark metal rectangle with a brown wooden handle at the bottom and backside of the object and was pointing at the open field where Ethan was running towards the newspaper.

Oliver and all the three dogs out there didn't know what was going on until there was a loud noise like a thunderous clap.

 ***BANG!***

As Ethan was grabbing the newspaper with his maw, a bullet was coming right at him with a Buzzing noise that hitted 10 inches away from him with a Sting on the ground as both noises shocked Ethan resulted in a yelp and jumped, exactly the right time Major. Tremblay fired his firearm which was an American-issue colt M1911 pistol, Baron and Cali barked and growled with hostility and anger towards the major who was pointing the gun at Ethan's direction and Oliver who was shocked with the noise from the firearm with his ear ringing, he then turned his head toward Major. Tremblay with a disgusted look on his face as he was displeased with the major for what looked like an attempt killing of his dog being shot from him.

"Are you mad! What was that for!" complained Oliver. "Is this how you treat dogs like that?" Oliver said again.

"I am sorry about that, and yes, we do intend to do that with the dogs in service." said Major. Tremblay as he was pointing his pistol down, to explain how dogs are trained in the military. "You see here dogs are going to be sent into the frontlines whether their roles is to be a guard dog, patrol or scout dog, mercy dog and messenger dog, they will encounter some firefights on duty, like soldiers they need to be trained to be prepared for what awaits them on the front lines." said the Major explaining the details of what dogs must go through and the requirements of the process, Ethan hearing all of this was a little bit shocked that dogs like him are being treated like this and is a little bit afraid of what war is like as he has never knew what it really was like, even though he had heard gunfire before when hunting with Oliver and his son during the rest of the summer as Oliver was about to explain.

"Well you could have told me if he had any experience with the sound of guns shooting as we went on hunting." said Oliver as he calmed down abit.

"Sorry mr. Wilson, I tried to tell Major. Tremblay that it sounded like a bad idea to just fire your gun at a dog's direction." said Lieutenant Lee explaining that he didn't like the idea either as the major opened his mouth again.

"But, I am just too stubborn to see how everyone can operate as a soldier in times when the unexpected is bound to happen." said the Major. With all said and done they took Ethan with them to the car to head back to the military headquarters in Quebec and be ship down to Britain to go under training before Ethan said his good-byes to his parents.

"Mom, Dad what if I don't want to go?!" he said in a panic tone as he thought of the details explained from the major Tremblay. As he was worried about what awaits for him.

"Son, there is nothing we can do, otherwise the master wouldn't be happy with us if we just bite the Major in the butt for what he did." said Baron as Ethan again made a complaint saying "But what if I don't see you guys again?" he whined to his parents as he was getting in the car and had his head and paws over the door of the car as if he was about to jump out in refusal to go with the men, his mother calmed him down for comfort.

"Ethan, we know it's very hard for you in the state of what's going on, but no matter what happens, we will see eachother again, either in this life or the next, we know you can get through this, as you were brave enough to face that bear while protecting Michael from harm." said Cali as Ethan remembered back when he protected Michael when he and the farmer's son got lost in the wilderness for two days, it gave him confidence that he would make it out alive if, no matter what was coming at him.

"Okay . . . Goodbye Mom and Dad, I love you." he said to his parents as his parents said back to him "We know sweetheart, we love you too." said Cali again as a tear came down from her eye as the car engine started up and Oliver came over to talk to Ethan for the last time.

"Thank you Ethan for protecting my son, I hope you know that even if we may not understand each other, perhaps you can meet my sons Adam and John give them protection or company if you like, I'll be sure to send them a letter mentioning you, good bye." as he petted him on the head and backed away from the car as it was being driving by Major. Tremblay and Lieutenant Lee sitting in the passenger seat holding Ethan by the leash, the car pulled over and turn back into the opposite direction, Ethan had his head looking over the road where his parents and his former owner were as he then lost sight of them in the distance.

Ethan hung his head low as he felt bitter sadness as he might not see his parents again even if he might make it, but he knew that it would be time for him to be adopted, just not the way it happened but must get over it and accept this new life even if there would be uncertainty ahead.

* * *

Ethan had woken up to find himself in a cage in a room filled with other dogs in cages as well, he felt a little bit of motion sickness as the room felt like it was bobbing up and down, where were they going to taken him?

 **October 13, 1915, amidst in the Atlantic ocean.**

' **BARK' 'BARK' BARK' BARK!'**

The room smelled of metal, wood, and a mix of that tobacco smell as well as the cold breeze of the sea coming from a round window, he was in a lower shelf of rows of cages filled with dogs of all sorts of breeds such as Labrador Retrievers like himself including other breeds like other Retrievers, Terriers, Newfoundlands, Leonbergers, and Elkhounds, most of whom were males while there was a few females here and there, most of them were still asleep while others were awake as they were whining or barking.

"HEY! Where are we? And where are we going?!" shouted Ethan as he had so many questions, one of the dogs in the cages replied back to him. "Beats to me son, at least where we are, we are on a ship." said an old Leonberger who was about 4 years older, his cage was across a gape away from Ethan that assembled a pathway, uncertain where they are heading, another dog right next to his cage, a terrier with green eyes answered Ethan's question.

"We are heading to Great Britain." he said in an accent that was different.

"Great Britain? Is that . . . where the war is?" he said turning towards where the dog was in his cage, as he was wondering if they were just heading into the war so early.

"No lad, it is part of Europe and it is one of the most powerful empires in the world, I heard it from one of the humans before I came here." said the terrier again explaining everything to Ethan.

"We are going to be trained there for the war effort." he said in a excited tone as if they were going to embark on a great adventure.

"Whats got you so excited?" asked Ethan as if it was alright to be excited for going to war.

"My mother comes from that country as I am part Irish Terrier and Ireland is part of that country, by the way my name's Aidan, and yours bee?" said the Terrier as he introduce himself to Ethan.

"Uh . . . my name is Ethan, well I can understand that you are excited." Ethan replied back to Aidan answering his question as Aidan said back to Ethan. "Oh sure I am lad, I have heard stories that my mum told me about the country when I was just a pup, long ago." he said telling him about the whereabouts of Britain and Ireland.

"There is still is not much I know about the country because I haven't been there my entire life but all of us mutts here are going to see the sights and-"

 ***BBBBBRRRUUUUUU***

The sound of the ship's horn went off, signaling land oh as they heard a human shout out from the upper deck. "Well, it's about time we are almost there." said Aidan as Ethan said back to him.

As the ship was being docked on the ports of Glasgow as it took for hours for the cargo ship to go through the river stream into the city ports, Glasgow is to be know as one of the largest cities of Britain.

The dogs were then taken out of their cages where they were out of the ship by sailors and into the docks where they were then fed with their meals and drank from their water bowls, after they had their meals, they were then put back in the cages by men in uniforms who were there handlers that would place them in the trucks or as the military calls them Karriers.

Aidan and Ethan were of the last dogs to be place into the trucks by the handlers to leave off the Glasgow port at once and into the city that it was called, as Ethan and Aidan were the last dogs in their cages to be place into the truck along with the two handlers aboard, they get see the sights of the urban city and how it was different than the rural farmland to Ethan.

Union Jack flags were out waving back and forth to show citizens of the country who were patriotic supporting the troops for king and country they say.

People, most of whom were civilians, were off busy with their daily lives while there were men who wore black uniforms and helmets that had a comb like shape on top of their heads patrolling the streets keeping law and order to the city as Ethan and all the dogs in the military truck pass by from street to street.

They saw many civilians were in outside restaurants enjoying their meals, and cups of tea and waiters gave out their orders while either of them having conversations with one another or just reading a newspaper that showed news reports of what was going on in the war, they spotted a boy who was of 13 years older wearing a woolen jacket and wearing a brown flat cap hat on his head was carrying a newspaper called the daily telegraph that read about the war in europe and all over the world.

As they pass by 10 blocks of the streets, Ethan spotted what appears to be an industrial factory with with big rows of buildings and what appeared to be big chimes where smoke was coming out of.

Ethan heard one of the handlers speaking to each other about the factories. "Is that where they make our equipment, sir?" said one of the handlers who sounded like a young man in his late teen years and early twenties.

While both of them had a distinctive accent then people like Major. Tremblay have yet different between each other. "Yes, yee be right lad, they also make weapons and ammunition for all of us as well, the pounds the government collects from the taxes and war bonds go into those factories so that we all have our equipment we need to defeat the huns, and their central power allies." said the other handler who was older than the young man asking the question.

"Well then, I hope the war doesn't end yet, I always wanted to come and visit parts of Europe and maybe even the world." said the young man again as he has ambitions to see the world before the older man replied back to him.

"Sure ya can lad, and hopefully we will get to pull back the huns to where they came from. Ay, have ya heard the news from the frontlines or the press?" he said asking the young man about the news of current events from which he replied back with a "Uh. . . no?" he said dumbfounded as he was clueless of the subject at hand.

"Well laddy, the huns are at it again." the other handler said as the young man asked him of what does he mean? "Did you mean the Germans already have conquered Paris?" The young handler said guessing at his best as the other handler immediately said back.

"No laddy, they have killed one of red cross nurses at Brussels yesterday, a woman named Edith Cavell, she was one our nurses helping our comrades and brothers in arms as well as helping them escape from enemy lines until she was discovered by the Germans, and then they executed her for crimes of helping our boys escape." the older handler explained everything he knew of the event to the young man, or what he thought he knew as the media is treating the execution of Edith Cavell as propaganda as truth be told, she too nursed the wounded soldiers on both sides of the war and didn't show resentment to her executioners.

"Good lord, we have to better to put a stop on those Germans from doing such atrocities." replied the young man as they continued on discussing about the war going on, Ethan wondered if the Germans were really that savage as every human being he has been around with says so.

And he would have thought of will he go out to kill Germans? Surely not as dogs like him were being used for other services but what if it does come down to it, would he?

As they pass on Ethan and Aidan saw some propaganda posters, one of which had what appeared to be a human, male to be precise with a a big mustache and a white cap on top of his head, he had an arm and hand pointing out towards the direction of where you would be standing in front of the poster if you were there, with words in the language the humans call english saying "Britons "wants you" join your country's army! God save the king" like all the other posters he had seen back at home the day before he was shipped off.

He also remembered he had seen a poster like this but different, which had the images of lions, where there was one lion with a big main that was the alpha male of the group of lions, and others were of four beta lionesses.

 **Three hours later**

Along the way down to the south of the country, Ethan and all the dogs in their cages rested as there was nothing else to do but looking at the farmland and urban sights of the city or hear what the humans were saying mostly about their lives or about the war, the truck had stopped for a moment, and with that Ethan had woken up opening his brown eyes, hearing some humans which were the ones in the front seat speaking with another human checking in on them, after that, the truck passed in which was an entrance of a gate where there was another human in uniform like all the others were only he was wearing what appeared to be a dish hat on him as well there were fences across the land, that stand as barriers, so that nobody would get in, only the personnel that was of service to the military or the government can get in, as the truck drove into the fields where there was a facility.

"Hey Ethan, do you hear that?" said Aidan as they started to hear what appeared to be barking going on.

"Yeah, is this it?" said Ethan as the truck parked in while the handlers stood up and open the plank wood that blocks the cages from spilling out behind the truck.

Ethan and Aidan were then out of their cages when the men in uniform brought them out, they were then lead by the handlers to the open fields of grass where there were they had opticals and a great view of the english channel, the total of dogs present where up to fifty dogs which was considered a handful, the place was known as Shoeburyness, Ethan and Aidan were then put in a fence kennel where there were other dogs in it.

"Well, this place isn't so bad at all." said Aidan as he kept calm with the other dogs until one of the dogs in the other kennels were growling viciously to each other than having a bit of a dog fight going on, luckily a few of the uniformed men came into the kennel and stopped the fight with their dog snatcher poles before any dog was injured.

"You can say that again." said a feminine voice with an accent that sounded like the humans that live in this country as well it sounded elegant, Ethan and Aidan turned their head towards the dog that said that and it was revealed to be a female dog with black and white fur all around her and was fluffy but not too much, she had a black mask that was covering the right side of her face and eye where it is and on the other side of her face all of it was all in white as she had the standards of the breed of dog she was known as and had light blueish eyes.

"And who might you be miss?" said Aidan as he greeted her when she replied back. "My name is Amity, I am a Border Collie, and what might you two be form?" said the dog revealing her name, and then asked the two dogs of their names and where they came from.

"My name is Ethan, and I come from Canada." said Ethan answering her question while Aidan did the same after. "Names Aidan, and I to come from Canada, but my mother and father had come from Ireland before I was even born."

Ethan then asked Amity a question about her. "By the way how long have you been here, and what was your life like before the Military came and took you away from your family?" he said where Amity then answered.

"I was born up in the north of England were Scotland and Britain meet in the border, that's where the name of my breed of dog comes from," she said continuing on with her background.

"I was born into a litter of pups six months ago in a farm where my mother and father worked herding sheep, I was put in here a three days ago when the humans took me, when . . I -I arrived here, they put me into an operation so that I can be fixed and they put me here for my recovering from it." she said as her mood turned from greeting new dogs in a friendly way to distraught. "What do you mean?" said Ethan as he was curious if all the other dogs like him and Aidan were going into an operation before being trained.

"It means I can't have any pups of my own when I am mates with someone, they do it so that no dogs who are working with the humans in this war cannot carrying any pups as it would require a lot of resources in the field to do so and . . . It was something that I too wanted to have pups, but now it looks like I'll never get that chance." she sighs and then continued on. "You two will have to get fixed as well as the others, it's just that they haven't had enough time to do that for you two." she said and Ethan then said back to her.

"Well . . . I am sorry about, but I think you won't be alone if you have enough friends like us, right?" said Ethan trying to brighten things up a bit for Amity which did help.

"Well . . . thanks I would really like that since I don't know much of these dogs as some of them just come across the country or other commonwealth countries." she said back before continuing on, "but will we even survive this war?" she said to Ethan in which he replied back.

"Well uh . . . I know things are pretty unsettling for me as well and wish this war would already be over with, so that we can live in with a family, but we can't just lose hope with the way things are going, is that right Aidan?" he said trying to look on the bright side of things as he turned his head back towards Aidan where he said back.

"Oh, sure thing lad, being all doom and gloom won't make things better for us in the long run." said Aidan as he agreed with Ethan and this social conversation and lead to gaining new friends in bonding relationships.

 ***BARK!***

It wasn't until a dog barked loudly to get all the dogs attention in their kennels Including Ethan Aidan and Amity.

"LISTEN UP HERE, ALL OF YOU BITCHES AND MUTTS." barked an English Bulldog sitting on a wooden crate, so that the dogs would see where he was, he spoke in an accent similar to the older handler that on was on the truck with Ethan and Aidan were in being transported to side of the country and his tone was much more harsh and authoritative as he continued to speak.

"Welcome to Shoeburyness, the first dog training school experiment, You have been selected here as the British army's first experimentally service dogs, I am sir Caddock, your drill instructor and don't take me as your friend as I am going to be harsh on you so that you be prepared for what's coming, each of you will serve a role whether it be messenger dog, mercy dog, scout dog, sentry dog or guard dog, when you ready to be sent to the frontlines, you will be faced with an enemy who does not care about the lives of others, as many of you have heard the rumors from the humans we serve with, it is our duty to serve our humans as they serve Great Britain and her commonwealth nation subjects, we will begin our daily routine in 0600 hours that is all." said the english bulldog as he step down from the crate as he was done with his speech.

Ethan and his friends were to be trained in the morning, they will no longer be dogs living the simple life of a house dog or frame dogs as they would trained like soldiers.

* * *

"Ethan . . . Ethan." said a feminine voice, Ethan then found himself laying on a wooden floor, he blinked his eyes open to focus on his surroundings to see that hay was everywhere on the floor and looked up to see two dogs that was his parents.

"Mom, Dad?" said Ethan as he was waking up too see that he must have been back home and it was all just a dream.

"Oliver's children are outside Ethan, won't you like to come play with them?" said Cali telling him of what was all the laughing of children were coming from the outside.

"Wait! Wasn't there a-" said Ethan as he was cut out from his father Baron answering his would be question.

"The war just ended six weeks ago, Ethan." said Baron as he continued on. "Matter of fact, Adam and John are here as well, they are just having a conversation with their Pa." he finished.

Ethan, as he was a bit turned off and confused but he accepted it as he was in a good mood to play with the children out in the fields as it was a beautiful day as the grass was green like never before and the birds were chirping like singing a song and sun was bright.

It must have been an alternative reality of that the war was still going on and this reality is so pleasant that Ethan thought that it was real to him.

 ***KA-BOOOOM!***

It wasn't until he had seen an explosion go off at the farm shed, another went off right where he was in the field.

He then woke up from his dream to see that it was nighttime and he was in the kennel with Aidan and Amity who were just sleeping peacefully seconds ago until they woke up to hear the noise of explosions going on as it woken up all the dogs in their kennels, they wondered what was going on if the war had suddenly come to England.

 **BOOM! BOOM!**

They turn their heads to the direction of the sound going on which was at the direction of the open fields and what revealed to them was fire going on in the distance, the fire was so bright that it emitted a glow of light that brighten the sky a bit and gave out an outline of a shape of cone cylinder on its vertical side about the fires going on.

"I have heard of those, they're called Zeppelins, one of the humans said that the Germans use them for strategic bombing and I think where they are bombing is . . . London." said Amity as the dogs watched the show going on in the distance.

Clearly what they are indeed facing off against an enemy who doesn't have regardless for life and they, the dogs would be helping the allies in their effort of facing them.

* * *

 **Happy Veterans day/ Armistice day / Remembrance day, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter here folks, I was originally going to publish this chapter on Battlefield 1's release day, but things were in the way and so Veterans day would have to do, anyways I hear by that the final chapter to this story would be publish at the end of 2019 or some where around that time, we will see how things will go by in the mean time I am going to take a break from writing till January or February so enjoy this chapter if you will, and just to let you know that I am not portraying the Germans as war criminal brutes, you will get to see just how atrocious both sides of the war were like. Oh and I have taken the Liberty of changing Esther's name to Ethan.**


	4. Chapter 4

Author's update, sorry you haven't seen this story updated, I have put it in hiatus to work on a Star Wars Zootopia fanfic, I think what I am more likely to do with this story is to revision it with the help form DancingLunarWolves as I think it would be too difficult to cover the entire events of WWI, so what I am more likely going to do is put Ethan, Amity and Aidan of where they entered into the war in mid-1917, I hope all of you can understand this, I'll try to continue this story as I love the Idea that Christian Knight's worked on his fanfic Cursed Soldier, I am currently on spring break form College and I'll see what I can do with Balto TotGW and my upcoming fanfic Star Wars Zootpia.


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